How Donald Trump Could Affect Birth Control Access

When people talk about "defunding" Planned Parenthood, they're talking about taking away Title X funding, which means patients on Medicaid and other social programs become unable to choose Planned Parenthood as their provider. While Americans wait to see if the Trump administration will preserve the birth control clause of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and whether President-Elect Trump will hold firm on his promise to defund Planned Parenthood, a new report by the sexual and reproductive health research and policy organization the Guttmacher Institute underscores just how critical access to birth control through Title X and Planned Parenthood health centers is for so many people. These clinics provide contraceptive services to a whopping 27% of U.S. women.

The Title X Family Planning Program is the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing low-income and uninsured people with family planning services and reproductive health care. This includes services like cancer screenings, STD screenings and treatment, Pap smears and pelvic exams, HIV screenings, counseling, and, yes, birth control.

The new Guttmacher study also found that compared in the last 5 years, clinics have been able to carry more options of birth control, with 59% of clinics offering the full range of all FDA-approved contraceptive methods. Not only that, but the clinics have been able to make same-day appointments more available, making it more likely for people to follow through with a birth control prescription or insertion.

In a statement, Kinsey Hasstedt, senior policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, explains that it is “clear that clinics [like Planned Parenthood] that focus on reproductive health are better equipped to deliver quality, timely contraceptive care to the greatest number of women. Policymakers should put ideology aside and ensure these providers have the resources and support they need to be able to continue delivering critical services to the communities that rely on them.”